Ransomed for a Kiss
by Jediempress
Summary: Sephiroth can't find Zack... then receives a mysterious message from Zack's PHS. Slash/boylove.


Hey. Yeah, I'm severely behind in stuff.

I wrote this for a contest on DA (figured it's been far enough into the voting to safely post elsewear and it's not like I have any votes anyway (sad face)). The theme was Kidnap Zack, and this is what my girlfriend's idea was. I like it a lot.

Disclaimer is I'm not SquareEnix nor Normura. The story is the only thing I can claim.

Please leave a review if you can.

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><p>This was utterly ridiculous. Zack should have been to his office an hour ago, and that was being generous. He knew it was the man's day off, and his message had said he "would like" Zack to come by. Normally that alone was enough to have Zack running up.<p>

Sephiroth never made casual requests.

After phone calls to all of the usual suspects, he was dismayed to find that no one had seen the other SOLDIER in several hours. There was no record of him leaving the building, and security was unable to locate him on any of the tapes. It was as if the man had vanished.

Growing increasingly troubled by this, Sephiroth began his own investigation. Perhaps Zack was merely sleeping - he slept like a coma patient on sedatives- and hadn't heard any of the phone calls or messages. Granted, Zack usually kept the volume on his PHS at maximum for that very reason. There was always the chance that the power died or that he left it in a different room. He may have even accidentally left it in someone else's quarters. He'd done that before.

Sephiroth left his office, leaving instructions with his secretary that he was to detain Zack there and notify the general immediately if Zack did show up. After that, he proceeded to investigate all of Zack's hideouts. Once he found the man, he was going to see that he had enough work thrown at him to keep him busy for a month... Perhaps there was a mission at Icicle Inn he could send him on...

His PHS chimed once. Removing it from a pocket, he glanced briefly at the message: _Come to the First Class training room._ It was from Zack. An odd request, but one that was easily accepted.

Sephiroth changed direction, turning away from the elevators and back into the heart of the SOLDIER floor. Passing some staff members, most of whom didn't even look at him, he kept his gaze ahead of him. As he approached the training room, he noted something... odd. The lock was engaged. During normal hours, the training room was open to anyone, and it was well within those hours.

Cautiously, he punched in his code on the keypad. It was denied. He tried again, and was denied again. This made absolutely no sense. Why was the training room in lockdown? And that message... Something was very off here, and that made him uneasy.

Preparing to enter the override code, his PHS called for attention again. On guard, the silver-haired man checked it. _Come in through the back._

Through the back? Sephiroth wasn't aware that Zack even knew there was a back route in and out of the room. It wasn't a widely known fact; it was only there as an emergency exit. He was only aware of it because he, Angeal, and Genesis had used it to sneak in and out after hours while working their way up the ranks. Though perhaps it wasn't odd that Zack knew about it. The man was sneaky to a fault.

Sephiroth left the locked door and made his way down the hall. At the next junction, he turned and followed the perimeter of the large training space, going down the smaller corridor. At the end of it was a set of doors for maintenance. No one ever paid them any mind, and he slipped easily into the small closet space. In four strides, he was to the narrow door at the back of the left wall.

This took him into the computer room, which no one ever entered unless there was a program malfunction they couldn't fix from the command room. From the amount of dust coating things, it had been years since that had happened. Entering the master code, the door slide smoothly open and he stepped into the control room.

Minimal power was running, the equipment on stand-by. Dim lighting revealed the computers, most on hibernate, but one screen was active... It was a view of the main floor, dark with the exception of a single light in the center. A chair was there, and tied to it was a body in black clothes...

Sephiroth's mind went into mission mode. One of his SOLDIERs, one that he considered a rare friend, was confined to a chair in the center of a locked room. His own phone used to bring Sephiroth here.

This was a set up.

His PHS chimed again. _Come to the main floor to negotiate his release._

Whoever was behind this didn't know him very well. Sephiroth did not negotiate for any reason. That was for politicians, not the military. His job was to rescue his comrade, find who had done this, and punish said person.

Sephiroth exited the control room, calmly striding down the short staircase to the sliding doors leading to the main chamber. He refrained from withdrawing Masamune, but was prepared to use magic should it be necessary in the immediate future. Whoever had done this seemed to be more interested in attempting to get something, as opposed to any kind of assault. Readied for anything, Sephiroth pushed open the door manually- it was much quieter than the automatic sensors.

Zack turned his face up at the soft sound that echoed through the empty room. An odd look came to his eyes even as he rushed out, "Dude! Seph! I don't know what-"

Sephiroth cut him off. "We'll discuss it later." Zack didn't look harmed in anyway, and he cautiously walked around to the back of the chair to examine the bindings holding him. In a louder tone, he asked, "Are you going to show yourself?"

There was no immediate reply, but the general could sense someone watching from the shadows of the main doors. With a detached awareness of Zack, Sephiroth focused in that direction. "You must know there are dire consequences to anyone who attempts to harm one of my men."

"There's no harm to him, or any desire to harm him," a soft voice drifted toward him. Sephiroth was fairly certain he knew the voice, but he wasn't able to place it. "However, he will not be released unless you meet my demand."

Sephiroth searched his memory, a nagging feeling tugging at him. He knew this person. They weren't a SOLDIER, but they resided in the building..."And that would be?"

There was a pause, almost as if the kidnapper was suddenly uncertain, but the voice, deep yet somehow boyish, returned steadily and sure, "A kiss."

The man halted. A kiss? That was a very odd request. Why would anyone go to this trouble for a kiss from him? Well, he knew that there were many who desired him -he wasn't blind- but this was... absurd. Crazy, even. This person was either stupid or the bravest man on Gaia. "Awfully far lengths to go for something as simple as a kiss."

"I don't need more than that."

Sephiroth, highly intrigued, narrowed his eyes at the darkness, but this person had hidden himself well. "Come out and let me see you."

"Not until you agree to my demands."

He almost smiled. Brave and determined. It was a combination he liked. "I agree."

Booted feet took steps toward him. From the shadows appeared the brown standard issue boots of the infantry, tucked into a pair of casual fatigues, topped by a young man's face of porcelain skin and blue eyes that shone with a brightness unseen outside of someone who'd had mako treatments. That face was framed by an organized mess of blond spikes...

Sephiroth was genuinely surprised. "Infantryman Strife."

"Sir," he responded politely. He continued walking toward him.

The older man tilted his head. "You did all of this?"

"Yes." Cloud stopped before him. "It got your attention."

"It did," he agreed. Someone had severely underestimated this boy. "You are aware that you could be in serious trouble for this."

"I am, but..." Cloud angled his face away. "I already failed my main goal for coming to Midgar. It was worth the risk to get the secondary."

Sephiroth studied him. "And that was...?"

The young man looked back up, no doubt or fear in his eyes. "To get noticed by you, Sir."

"..."

"You can take any action necessary against me," Cloud continued. "Have me arrested, court-martialed, whatever the punishment is. However, you agreed to the terms of Zack's release, and you have to fulfill that first."

Sephiroth observed Cloud for a moment further before a smirk pulled at his lips. This boy... was worth taking some time to get to know better. He took a step closer."I did agree."

The first sign of nervousness appeared as a muscle in Cloud's cheek twitched. It was... rather cute. Sephiroth brought his gloved hand to the boy's cheek, touching it almost as if to calm the twitch he saw. The look to Cloud's eyes changed to something more lusty and again Sephiroth almost smiled.

This young man was... interesting.

Tilting Cloud's face up with a gentle movement, Sephiroth brought his down. In a swift, fluid action, he set his lips to Cloud's, kissing him fully. The boy had earned it.

Sephiroth could feel Cloud's elation as he kissed back, awkwardly, but with definite want. There was something very pure about it... Sephiroth allowed the kiss to deepen. It felt... very good to have Cloud's lips to his, and he quite automatically took his hands to the shorter man's body, tugging him closer.

It was then that Zack spoke up. "Hey, uh, before this gets really weird, can someone untie me?"

Cloud's hands found their way to Sephiroth's chest, sliding up them as he was pressed closer.

"Please?"

Sephiroth tightened his grip on Cloud, running the tip of his tongue along the seam of the blond's lips to open them up a little.

"Shiva, guys! I don't need to be seeing this!"

Cloud gave a sigh, parting his lips to allow Sephiroth's tongue to explore as his fingers worked their way to the taller man's neck.

"Gaia, this is so wrong, so wrong... Hey! It's cool you guys want all up in each other, but-"

Sephiroth ran his hands along Cloud's back, one dipping down as the other moved up to the other man's neck to ultimately tangle in the wild tufts of Cloud's hair.

"I could have died happy having never witnessed this!"

Cloud moaned as the kiss upon his lips ended so that Sephiroth could move his lips along his jaw and down his neck, lingering at his pulse point.

"Ew, ew, ew... I feel gay just watching this."

Sephiroth's hand groped Cloud's ass.

"... I'm _so_ gonna have to see Aerith after this."

Cloud gave a pleasured sigh, pressing his body against Sephiroth's and sliding along it.

"This is what I get for helping a friend."


End file.
